JP2018504302A - Mold release method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

Molding optical components with fine (eg, micrometer scale) features from optical adhesives or polymers can be difficult. This is because the optical component often adheres to the mold. If the optical component sticks to the mold, either the optical component or the mold may be damaged or destroyed when the optical component is removed from the mold. This damage can be mitigated or completely avoided by irradiating the interface between the optical component and the mold with ultraviolet (UV) light before removing the optical component from the mold. UV light reduces the adhesive force that adheres the optical component and the mold, making it easier to remove the optical component from the mold without damaging either the mold or the optical component. [Selection] Figure 4

Description

Cross-reference to related applications. S. C. Under §119 (e), claiming priority under US Patent Application No. 62 / 099,716 entitled “Methods and Systems for Mold Releases” filed January 5, 2015, Reference is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

  Forming a shape into a material is known to those skilled in the art in many ways. For example, there are injection molding, cast molding and compression molding. The molded part is typically plastic, but many other materials such as glass and metal can also be molded.

  The basic process consists of creating a negative mold of the shape that you want to ultimately mold and completely mold the mold into the molding material while the molding material is in the form of a deformable liquid or gel. Contacting the mold, matching the material to be molded to the shape of the mold, and curing the material to be molded before removing the mold from the molded part.

  In most cases, the material to be molded does not adhere strongly to the mold surface and can be easily removed. For example, a steel mold filled with heated liquid Teflon will come off with little or no adhesion after Teflon cooling and hardening.

  In some cases, it may be desirable to mold the high adhesion material, and it is difficult or impossible to remove the high adhesion material from the mold without damaging the molded shape. For example, in an optical Fresnel lens, a very fine structure is molded. These structures can be only a few micrometers in height and a surface finish roughness of only a few tens of angstroms. These structures are not only very fine, but are often very brittle. In one exemplary manufacturing process, it is desirable to mold the Fresnel structure on the surface of the substrate, rather than molding the substrate and the Fresnel structure simultaneously in one step. It may also be desirable to mold the Fresnel structure from a highly adhesive material so that the material adheres strongly to the substrate. In such a situation where a highly adhesive molding material is used, the material can adhere strongly to the substrate, which is desirable and also adheres strongly to the mold, which is undesirable. In this situation, the molding material often cannot be removed from the mold without damaging the mold, the molded part, or both.

  An example of the technique of the present invention is a process in which a highly adhesive material is molded and then removed from the mold without damage. An example is a method for forming a molded part using a transparent mold and a molding material that at least partially absorbs ultraviolet light. This molding material is placed in a mold and cured in the mold, for example via irradiation or thermosetting, to form a molded part. Adhesion between the surface of the molded part and the mold by irradiating at least a portion of the surface of the molded part and the mold (e.g., ultraviolet (UV) light from a laser or other suitable UV light source). To reduce the sex. In some cases, irradiating the interface includes ablating at least a portion of the surface of the molded part. Subsequently, the molded part is removed from the mold.

  The mold may include glass, quartz or sapphire. The molding material may comprise a high refractive index adhesive, polymer, polycarbonate, polypropylene or poly (methyl methacrylate). The molded part may comprise a Fresnel lens, a refractive lens, a diffractive lens, a cylinder lens, an aspheric lens, a contact lens, an eyeglass lens, an intraocular lens, an eyeglass lens or a diffraction grating.

  Another example of the technique of the present invention is a method for forming a Fresnel lens. For example, the polymer is placed into the mold by injecting the polymer into a mold that defines the surface of the Fresnel lens. The polymer is cured in the mold (eg, by exposure to UV light) to form a Fresnel lens. At least a part of the interface between the surface of the Fresnel lens and the mold is irradiated with UV light (for example, UV light transmitted through the mold) to reduce the adhesion between the surface of the Fresnel lens and the mold. Remove the Fresnel lens from the mold. In some cases, a substrate (such as a lens blank) is placed in contact with the polymer before the polymer is cured.

  Yet another example of the technique of the present invention is a molded optical component (such as a Fresnel lens) that includes a cured adhesive material whose surface is at least partially ablated by ultraviolet radiation. The cured adhesive material may comprise a high refractive index adhesive, a polymer, polycarbonate, polypropylene, and / or poly (methyl methacrylate). The surface of the cured adhesive material may define at least one feature having a height of up to about 5 μm. The molded optical component can also include a substrate in contact with the cured adhesive material to support the cured adhesive material.

  It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the drawings are primarily for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, and in some cases, various aspects of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein are shown in exaggerated or enlarged form in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of the various mechanisms. It is sometimes done. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally refer to similar features (eg, elements that are similar in function and / or similar in structure).

It is a perspective view of the transparent mold for Fresnel lenses. 1B shows a cross section of the transparent mold of FIG. 1A filled with air. FIG. 1B is another cross-sectional view of the transparent mold shown in FIG. 1A. 1C is a perspective view of a Fresnel lens made of a highly adhesive material and formed using the transparent mold of FIGS. 2B shows a cross section of the Fresnel lens of FIG. 2A after removal from the transparent mold using laser ablation. FIG. 2B is another cross-sectional view of the Fresnel lens shown in FIG. 2A. It is sectional drawing of what has arrange | positioned the Fresnel lens shown by FIG. 2A on a board | substrate. 2 is a photograph of a molded Fresnel lens formed on a lens blank. It shows what filled the adhesive molding material in the transparent mold of FIG. The interface between the cured adhesive molding material irradiated with ultraviolet light and the transparent mold is shown. Fig. 4 illustrates the formation and release process of a molded part made of a cured adhesive molding material using ultraviolet light.

  In one example of the technique of the present invention, the mold is made of a material that transmits light (eg, fused silica glass). The material to be molded (e.g., an adhesive having a relatively high refractive index, e.g., Norland 65 or Mitsui Chemicals MR-10 polymer with a refractive index typically in the range of 1.50 to 1.70) is formed into this transparent mold. And then cured by, for example, UV light curing or heat curing. At this point, the cured material is strongly bonded to the transparent mold. The adhesive bond strength can sometimes be higher than the strength of the adhesive or polymer, so that when the cured adhesive or polymer is withdrawn from the mold, some material is removed from the original mass (molded part) May peel off and remain adhered to the mold. A laser pulse is projected onto the transparent mold before attempting to remove the cured material from the transparent mold. The laser pulse is of a wavelength selected to (1) pass through the transparent mold without damaging the transparent mold and (2) break the surface molecular bonds of the molding material. An example of a laser wavelength is 248 nm, which ablate many polymer surfaces. The laser pulse destroys the top layer of molecules on the surface of the molding material and weakens the adhesion of the top layer. After that, even if there are molecules peeled off from the surface of the molding material, the molding material can be easily removed from the mold in a state where there are few such molecules.

  This molding process can be particularly useful for making optical components including Fresnel lenses, refractive lenses, diffractive lenses, cylinder lenses, aspheric lenses, contact lenses, spectacle lenses, intraocular lenses, spectacle lenses, gratings and the like. However, not limited to the creation of optical components or ablation using UV radiation, any type of structure that can be molded can be removed from the mold in this process. For example, an aluminum structure may be molded and then ablated / released with light having a wavelength of about 532 nm (visible spectrum light (green)). Similarly, a ceramic insulator may be molded and ablated / released with light at a wavelength of about 1064 nm (near infrared (NIR) spectrum light).

  The mold can be formed into any suitable shape and can be made of any material that is transparent to the laser light used to break or partially ablate the surface of the cured molding material, including fused silica. , Glass, quartz, sapphire, and the like. The size of the structure defined by the mold can be as small as sub-micrometers and / or as large as meters. Generally speaking, the finest features defined by the mold can be about two wavelengths of laser light used (eg, a size of about 20 nm to about 800 nm). The mold aspect ratio range can be as large or small as current molding processes.

  Suitable materials for molding include high refractive index adhesives, MR-10 polymers, polycarbonate, polypropylene, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastics and amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (A- PET), but is not limited to these. Suitable materials should not substantially pass UV light (light with a wavelength of 405 nm or less), thereby allowing the material to absorb laser energy and causing ablation. If the molded part is used as a lens or other transmissive part, the material should substantially pass light at the lens operating wavelength (eg, light at wavelengths longer than 405 nm) to provide good optical performance. It is. However, if the part is not used as an optical lens, the material may not pass or reflect at visible wavelengths. In this case, virtually any moldable material may be used if it can absorb the available laser wavelength and the surface will ablate or evaporate rather than simply melt.

  As long as the mold transmits enough light to allow ablation of the molding material without damaging the mold or molding material, the radiation used to remove the molded part from the mold will ablate the molding material. It can be of any wavelength that causes it. For example, the irradiation beam may be one or more pulses of ultraviolet light (about 10 to 400 nm) derived from a laser (126 nm, 146 nm, 172 nm, 175 nm, 193 nm, 222 nm, 248 nm, 282 nm, 308 nm or more of excimer laser derived pulses) 351 nm light). Aluminum and other metals and alloys may be ablated by visible light (about 400-700 nm) and ceramics may be ablated by NIR light (about 700-5000 nm). Any standard laser pulse duration may be used as long as an energy density sufficient for ablation is obtained. Typical pulse durations range from a few milliseconds to a few femtoseconds. In some examples, one pulse is used. In other cases, two or more pulses are used, and a typical repetition rate is from a few seconds per pulse to a billion billion pulses per second (eg, up to 100 GHz or more).

  Even if one wide beam is applied to the entire or substantially the entire interface between the mold and the molded part at once, one or more smaller beams can be applied to all of the various areas of the interface at once or sequentially. It may be irradiated. For example, the area where the adhesive contacts the mold may be irradiated with one or more beams to prevent any adhesive from remaining in the mold. For example, the entire interface may be scanned with a relatively small beam or may be applied to various portions of the interface. If a pulse has enough energy to ablate the entire surface of the molded part that needs to be removed, this can be a one-pulse operation, or a single pulse can have an available energy. If insufficient, it can be a multi-pulse operation. In some cases where the adhesion to the mold is a borderline (for example, it may occasionally be impossible to remove), partial ablation may be sufficient to ensure a clean release. . The laser beam can be of almost any size, ranging from a beam diameter of a few meters to a point that is less than 1 micrometer in diameter.

The peak pulse energy is determined by experiment and typical energy levels are a few millijoules to a few joules per square centimeter. Generally, pulse energy is chosen to exceed the ablation threshold of the molding material (e.g., in ABS plastic about 20mJ ^/ cm 2, A-PET at about 35 mJ / cm ² and about the PMMA 200mJ / ^cm 2). A pulsed laser is the preferred embodiment, but non-pulsed continuous beam light can also work if it causes not only melting but also ablation / evaporation.

  After ablation is complete, the force required to remove the molded part from the mold may be small enough to remove the molded part from the mold with little or no damage to any part. In some cases, gravity alone provides sufficient force to remove the molded part from the mold, allowing the mold to simply be flipped over and the molded part to fall. If desired, additional material or mass may be added to the size of the molded part to compensate for any material loss that occurs during ablation. For example, the molded part may be made thicker, but may have the same shape, or the aspect ratio of the molded part may be adjusted to account for material loss due to ablation.

Molding Fresnel Lens with High Adhesive Material FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary mold 15 for an optical component. 1B and 1C show cross-sectional profiles of a mold 15 filled with air 10. The mold 15 is made of a material such as fused silica or glass and is generally transparent at ultraviolet wavelengths (eg, about 10 nm to about 400 nm). The cross-sectional profile is approximately 6 mm × 6 mm square and has a surface 12 that defines at least one surface of an optical component made using the mold 12. In this case, since the mold 15 is for a Fresnel lens, the surface 12 has a negative shape of a Fresnel lens and has a depth of about several micrometers (for example, 1 μm, 2.5 μm, 5 μm, 7.5 μm or And a series of concentric circular ridges having a width on the order of tens to hundreds of micrometers (eg, 10 μm, 25 μm, 50 μm, 75 μm, 100 μm, 125 μm, 150 μm, 200 μm, or 250 μm). Since the ridges on the surface 12 define such fine features, the Fresnel lens can be molded into the mold 15 without damaging or destroying the fine features, particularly when making the Fresnel lens from a material that adheres or adheres to the mold 15. It can be difficult or cumbersome to remove.

  FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an exemplary Fresnel lens 25 made using the mold 15 shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C show cross-sectional profiles of the Fresnel lens 25 in the air 20. The Fresnel lens is made of a cured high refractive index adhesive, MR-10 polymer, polycarbonate, polypropylene, poly (methyl methacrylate) or another suitable material. The diameter of the Fresnel lens 25 is about 6 mm, and the height is about 3 μm. It also has a surface 22 that defines a concentric ring having a depth ranging from 1 μm to less than about 4 μm.

  FIG. 2D shows a Fresnel lens 25 placed on a substrate 28, such as a lens blank, glass piece, plastic piece or other suitable piece of material. (FIG. 2E is a photograph of a Fresnel lens on a lens blank for a spectacle lens.) The substrate 28 can also be made of the same high index adhesive or polymer used to make the Fresnel lens 25. Here, the substrate 28 is a flat piece of material that supports the Fresnel lens 25. In most environments, a thickness of several micrometers is too thin to stand on its own. In other cases, the substrate 28 has a curvature, facet, or other shape to refract or diffract incident light or impart desired mechanical properties (eg, stress or strain relief). Good. Fresnel lens 25 and substrate 28 may be transparent over overlapping or coincident wavelength ranges (eg, part or all of the visible spectrum that is in the range of about 400-700 nm). The substrate 28 may be made of a material that reflects light through the Fresnel lens 25 or may be coated with such a material.

  FIG. 3 shows the mold 15 of FIGS. 1A to 1C filled with an uncured molding material 35. The molding material 35 in this exemplary process is shown as a casting process, but can be other types of molding processes such as injection molding. A substrate (eg, a lens blank) may be placed along the top surface (in the reference frame of FIG. 3) to create a smooth or other shaped surface. When the molding material 35 enters the mold 15 and matches the shape of the mold 15 (and any substrate), the molding material 35 is cured into the shape of a Fresnel lens. The molding material 35 can be cured by methods known to those skilled in the molding art, some examples being light curing, heat curing, two-component mixed epoxy, heat flow and the like. For example, the Fresnel lens 25 may be formed by curing the molding material 35 with relatively low intensity UV light.

Curing of the molding material typically requires 1 to 10 joules of total energy, and in some cases, higher or lower energy is required depending on the material properties. However, the energy concentration should not reach or exceed the threshold level at which ablation occurs. Ablation upon release typically can occur when the energy density reaches and / or exceeds the ablation threshold (substantially different for each material). For example, the ablation threshold for ABS plastic is about 20 mJ / cm ² , the ablation threshold for A-PET is about 35 mJ / cm ² , and the ablation threshold for PMMA is about 200 mJ / cm ² . In order to optimize the removal rate of the plastic and the desired surface finish quality, these values can possibly be increased several times by experiment.

  Curing strongly bonds the molded part 25 to the mold 15. As a result, it may be difficult to remove from the mold 15 without damaging the molded part 25, the mold 15, or both the molded part 25 and the mold 15.

  FIG. 4 shows an excimer laser 40 that emits one pulse or a plurality of pulses 45 of ultraviolet light (for example, wavelength 248 nm) in order to remove the molded Fresnel lens 25 from the mold 15. The plurality of pulses of ultraviolet light 45 propagates freely through the glass mold 30 and then encounters the molded part 35 at the interface 50 between the molded part 35 and the mold 30. At the interface 50, the pulse 45 destroys the surface layer 22 of the Fresnel lens 25. In this exemplary method, the surface layer is at least partially ablated by the ultraviolet light pulse 45. By destroying the surface layer at the interface 50, the adhesive state between the mold 15 and the molded part 25 is broken, and the molded part 25 can be removed from the mold 15 with little or no damage. On the surface of the molded part 25, the number of molecules destroyed can be reduced, but the degree of destruction can be reduced or minimized by controlling the wavelength, number, repetition frequency, peak intensity and energy of the pulse 45. Can do. When the destruction is completed, for example, the molded part 25 can be removed from the mold 15 by turning the mold 15 upside down.

Molding Optical Components with Micrometer Scale Features FIG. 5 shows a process 500 for molding optical components or other components with micrometer scale features from highly adhesive materials. In step 502, a molding material such as an optical adhesive or polymer is placed in a transparent mold. The molding material may be poured or injected into the mold, depending on the shape of the mold and the shape of the part to be molded.

  In optional step 504, a substrate, such as a lens blank, is placed in contact with the molding material. When the mold is a cast mold, the substrate can be placed on the molding material after pouring the molding material into the mold. If the mold is an injection mold, the molding material can be injected into a void or cavity formed by the mold and the substrate. The molding material can also be placed directly on the substrate and then pushed into the mold by pressing the substrate towards or against the mold.

  In some cases, the substrate may support more than one molded optical component. For example, the substrate may support an array of molded optical components (eg, an array of micrometer-scale Fresnel lenses) that is formed simultaneously using a single mold or a set of molds that define multiple components. it can. The substrate may support components that are sequentially formed using the same mold or combination of molds.

  In step 506, the molding material is cured using a suitable curing technique. For example, the molding material may be irradiated with visible light or UV light that passes through the mold, the substrate, or both. The molding material may be heated. It is also possible to mix the molding material with a curing agent, for example a second part of a two-part epoxy. Alternatively, the molding agent may simply be cured over a predetermined time.

  When the molding material is sufficiently hard, one or more pulses of UV light are irradiated from the excimer laser or other suitable light source to the interface between the molding material and the mold (step 508). As explained above, pulses of UV light break down and / or ablate the interface, reducing the adhesion or bonding force that causes the cured molding material to stick to the mold. In some cases, this pulse is applied to the entire interface, and in other cases, only a portion of the interface is applied. For example, the pulses may be scanned over the interface in a pattern or randomly. If the molded part is a Fresnel lens, the pulses may be scanned along a concentric ring on the surface of the Fresnel lens. The pulse duration, pulse power, and / or number of pulses directed to each spot may be selected based on the part shape and material.

  After breaking the adhesive force that joins the mold and the molded part, in step 510, the molded part is removed from the mold, for example, simply by turning the mold over so that the molded part falls from the mold. When the molded part is on the substrate, the substrate and the mold can be pulled apart without damaging the mold or the molded part. Subsequently, further molded parts can be made using the mold.

  Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that a wide variety of optical components can be made using the molds, materials and processes disclosed herein by simply changing the shape of the mold. For example, a refractive lens, a diffractive lens, a cylinder lens, an aspherical lens, a contact lens, an eyeglass lens, an intraocular lens, an eyeglass lens, a lattice, and the like may be manufactured using a mold having an appropriate shape. Using the process disclosed herein, aluminum parts that are released using green light and other (ie, non-optical) parts that include a ceramic structure that is released using NIR light are fabricated. You can also

CONCLUSION While various embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein, those skilled in the art will perform the functions described herein and / or are described herein. Various other means and / or structures for obtaining results and / or one or more advantages are readily devised, and each such variation and / or modification is described in the present invention as described herein. Is considered within the scope of the embodiment. More generally, all parameters, dimensions, materials and configurations described herein are intended to be exemplary, and actual parameters, dimensions, materials and / or configurations are Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that this will depend on the specific application or applications using the teachings of One of ordinary skill in the art can reliably recognize or elucidate many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein using only routine experimentation. Accordingly, the embodiments described above are shown by way of example only and, within the scope of the claims appended hereto and their equivalents, in ways other than those specifically described and claimed. It should be understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced. Inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and / or method described herein. In addition, where such mechanisms, systems, articles, materials, kits and / or methods are consistent with each other, any of two or more of such mechanisms, systems, articles, materials, kits and / or methods These combinations are included in the scope of the invention of this disclosure.

  The above embodiments can be implemented in any of a number of ways. For example, embodiments that design and create the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided on one computer or distributed across multiple computers.

  Further, it will be appreciated that the computer may be embodied in any of a number of forms such as a rack mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer or a tablet computer. In addition, computers are generally not considered computers, including personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones or any other suitable portable or stationary electronic device, but with devices with suitable processing capabilities. May be built in.

  A computer may also have one or more input or output devices. These devices can be used in particular to provide a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interface include a printer or display screen for visually indicating output, and a speaker or other sound generating device for audibly indicating output. Examples of input devices that can be used for the user interface include keyboards and pointing devices such as mice, touch pads and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive input information by language recognition or in other audio formats.

  Such computers may be interconnected by any suitable form of one or more networks, including a local or wide area network (such as a corporate network and an intelligent network (IN)) or the Internet. Such a network may be based on any suitable technology, may operate according to any suitable protocol, and may include a wireless network, a wired network, or a fiber optic network.

  The various methods or processes outlined herein (eg, methods or processes for designing and creating the techniques disclosed above) are those that use any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. You may code as software which can be performed with the above processors. In addition, such software may be created using any of a number of suitable programming languages and / or programming or scripting tools, executable machine language code executed in a framework or virtual machine Alternatively, it may be compiled as intermediate code.

  In this regard, the various concepts of the invention are computer encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or processors, perform methods of implementing the various embodiments of the invention discussed above. A readable storage medium (or a plurality of computer readable storage media) (eg, computer memory, one or more floppy disks, compact disks, optical disks, magnetic tapes, flash memory, field programmable gate arrays or other semiconductor device circuitry, or Other non-primary media or tangible computer storage media) may be implemented. The one or more computer-readable media can be portable and can be loaded with one or more programs stored on the media to one or more different computers or other processors as discussed above. Various aspects of the present invention can be implemented.

  The term “program” or “software” is used herein to refer to any that can be used to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of an embodiment as discussed above. Used in a generic sense to refer to a type of computer code or a series of computer-executable instructions. In addition, it should be appreciated that according to one aspect, when executed, the one or more computer programs that perform the methods of the present invention need not reside on one computer or processor, but in a modular fashion, Various aspects of the invention may be implemented distributed across many different computers or processors.

  Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functions of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

  The data structure may also be stored in any suitable form on a computer readable medium. For illustrative simplicity, the data structure may be shown as having fields that are related via locations in the data structure. Such a relationship may be similarly realized by assigning the storage of that field at a location in the computer readable medium that conveys the relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish relationships between information in the fields of the data structure, including the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationships between data elements.

  Also, the various concepts of the present invention may be embodied as one or more methods (examples of which have been shown). Any suitable method may order the actions to be performed as part of the method. Thus, embodiments may be constructed to perform actions in a different order than those illustrated, and perform several actions simultaneously, even though they are shown as sequential actions in the exemplary embodiments. You may include that.

  It should be understood that all definitions and definitions used herein take precedence over dictionary definitions, document definitions incorporated by reference, and / or the general meaning of the defined terms. It is.

  The indefinite articles “a” and “an”, as used in the specification and claims, should be understood to mean “at least one” unless clearly stated to the contrary.

  The phrase “and / or” as used in the specification and claims, is “either or both” of the elements that are coordinated with the phrase, ie, in some cases co-existing, In other cases, it should be understood as meaning elements that exist separately. Multiple elements listed with “and / or” should be construed in the same way, ie, “one or more” of the elements coordinated by the phrase. Optionally, in addition to the elements specifically defined by the “and / or” section, there are other elements (whether or not related to these specifically defined elements). Also good. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and / or B”, when used with an open-ended phrase such as “includes”, in one embodiment, only A (optionally other than B) In other embodiments, only B (optionally including elements other than A), and in still other embodiments both A and B (optionally including other elements), etc. Can be pointed to.

  As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and / or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and / or” should be construed as inclusive, ie, include at least one of a number of elements or elements of a list. Including two or more, and optionally, additional items not listed. Obviously only the opposite term (such as “only one of them” or “exactly one of them” or “consisting of” when used in a claim) is included in many elements or elements of a list. It means to include exactly one element. In general, the term “or” as used herein is “any”, “one of”, “only one of” or “exactly one of”. When following an exclusivity term such as "", it should be interpreted only as indicating an exclusive alternative (ie, "one but not both"). The term “consisting essentially of”, when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

  As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one” refers to at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements with respect to the list of one or more elements. It should be understood that it does not necessarily include at least one of all the elements specifically listed in the list of elements, but any combination of elements in the list of elements. Do not exclude. This definition allows any element other than the specific element to be optional, regardless of whether or not it is related to the element specifically specified in the element list to which the phrase “at least one” refers. Depending on Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or equivalently, “at least one of A or B” or equivalently “at least one of A and / or B” ), In one embodiment, includes at least one A (optionally more than one A) and B is absent (optionally includes elements other than B), another embodiment In which at least one B (optionally more than one B) and A is absent (optionally includes elements other than A), in yet another embodiment, at least one B Including A (optionally two or more A), including at least one (optionally two or more B) (optionally including other elements), etc. .

  In addition to the above specification, the claims include all transitional phrases (“include”, “include”, “have”, “have”, “include”, “accompany”, “hold”, “configure” Etc.) should be understood to mean open-ended, ie, "including but not limited to". As specified in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examination Procedures, Section 2111.03, only the transition phrase “consisting of” is a closed transition phrase, and the transition phrase “consisting essentially of”. Only a semi-closed transition phrase.

Claims (20)

A method for forming a molded part using a transparent mold and molding material,
Placing the molding material in the transparent mold;
Curing the molding material in the transparent mold so as to form the molded part;
Irradiating at least a portion of the interface between the surface of the molded part and the mold so as to reduce the adhesion between the surface of the molded part and the transparent mold;
Removing the molded part from the transparent mold;
Including said method.   The method of claim 1, wherein the transparent mold comprises at least one of glass, quartz, and sapphire.   The method of claim 1, wherein the molding material comprises at least one of a high refractive index adhesive, a polymer, polycarbonate, polypropylene, and poly (methyl methacrylate).   The method of claim 1, wherein the molded part comprises a Fresnel lens.   The method of claim 1, wherein the molded part comprises at least one of a refractive lens, a diffractive lens, a cylinder lens, an aspheric lens, a contact lens, a spectacle lens, an intraocular lens, a spectacle lens or a diffraction grating.   The method of claim 1, wherein curing the molding material comprises irradiating the molding material.   The irradiation of claim 1, wherein irradiating the at least part of the interface between the surface of the molded part and the transparent mold comprises ablating at least a part of the surface of the molded part. Method.   The method of claim 1, wherein irradiating the at least part of the interface comprises irradiating the at least part of the interface with ultraviolet light.   A molded part formed by the method according to claim 1. Placing a polymer in a mold, the mold defining a surface of a Fresnel lens;
Curing the polymer in the mold to form the Fresnel lens;
Irradiating at least part of the interface between the surface of the Fresnel lens and the mold with ultraviolet light so as to reduce the adhesion between the surface of the Fresnel lens and the mold;
Removing the Fresnel lens from the mold;
A method for forming a Fresnel lens.   The method of claim 10, wherein placing the polymer in the mold comprises injecting the polymer into the mold.   The method of claim 10, wherein curing the polymer comprises irradiating the polymer with ultraviolet light.   The method of claim 10, wherein irradiating the at least part of the interface includes transmitting the ultraviolet light through a mold. The method of claim 10, further comprising placing a substrate in contact with the polymer prior to curing the polymer.   The Fresnel lens formed according to the method in any one of Claims 10-14.   A molded optical component comprising a cured adhesive material whose surface is at least partially ablated by ultraviolet radiation.   The molded optical component of claim 16, wherein the cured adhesive material comprises at least one of a high index adhesive, a polymer, polycarbonate, polypropylene, and poly (methyl methacrylate).   The molded optical component of claim 16, wherein the surface defines at least one feature having a height of at most about 5 μm.   The molded optical component according to claim 16, comprising a Fresnel lens. The molded optical component of claim 16, further comprising a substrate in contact with the cured adhesive material to support the cured adhesive material.